If you're a prospects junkie (or if you work for Baseball America magazine), it doesn't get much better than this: Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Julio Teheran will all be starting tonight when the Nationals meet the Braves at Disney World. You, of course, know everything there is to know about Strasburg and Harper. You may not know as much about Teheran, but you'll be seeing plenty of Atlanta's No. 1 pitching prospect (and the No. 5 overall prospect in the sport according to BA) soon enough.

From the Nats' perspective, it'll be interesting to see how both Strasburg and Harper look tonight. Strasburg makes his third start of the spring, coming off a somewhat inconsistent outing last week against the Marlins. Harper, meanwhile, makes his return to the lineup after missing time with calf tightness.

Not too many other regulars are making the trip this evening, but Adam LaRoche is at first base, giving everyone another opportunity to gauge the state of his shoulder and ankle.

Plenty of viewing and listening options for this one, too, with the game televised on MLB Network (FYI: You'll be getting the Braves' crew) and with Charlie and Dave back in the radio booth again. Enjoy the game and the conversation here…

Anon 2:17Clearly the short term answer to that is that Harper would be delayed somewhat in coming up with the Nats. There are a number of folks here that believe LaRoche won't ever return to his normal stats and Morse should immediately take his spot. Others here believe that Adam will be a good trade deadline trade candidate, and so Morse would move to 1st at that point. But your question is key to the overall equation, and part of the reason I think Lannan sticks around until at least July.

I just realized something. I bet if a deal is done for Lannan, I bet it will be a blockbuster and I bet Mike Morse will part of it. It will be for center fielder and it means that Harper will called up in May and LaRosa will fill in until then.

From the last post: Who or what will people complain about if Desi and Lannan are both gone?Werth.Can someone tell me something? If the ideal is for us to pick up a ML-ready CF in return for Lannan, who of Morse, Werth, and Harper would be odd man out of the OF?LaRoche.

Speaking of unis, I watched the end of a BOS/NYY game the other day (hey, there wasn't any other baseball on, alright?). Man, the Yankees were sporting some ugly unis, imo. In other news, the Sox faithful seemed to be in midseason form. I thought I could hear them chanting "Yankees s*ck" at the end of the game (which NY won 1-0).

I understood the question to be who of the three OF players mentioned would be the odd man out of the OF.Can someone tell me something? If the ideal is for us to pick up a ML-ready CF in return for Lannan, who of Morse, Werth, and Harper would be odd man out of the OF

What the Nats need now more than a CF is a guy like Lance Berkman at first base. Of course, he's the reason the Cardinals let Pujols go. Berkman along with Holiday and Molina give them plenty of offense and that's just the middle of the lineup. Sec3 is right many of us suspect that LaRoche is in decline, and some even believe the same of Werth. They are both at that age and both have had enough cumulative injuries at this point …

Somewhere, Chase Utley's back just gave him a twinge. hehe.Sec 3, My Sofa said… I shouldn't gloat. I know. But boy, do they play bad. I can't help but think how nice it's going to be in a couple of years, when we're saying that about the Phillies. March 14, 2012 2:58 PM

They already have ML ready CF's in Ankiel, Werth and apparently Brett Carroll … why would they want Parra? Unless its THE now and future CF such as BJ Upton or Peter Borjous the Nats aren't going to pull the trigger on a CF.My guess is if any trade occurs the Nats will attempt to acquire additional left-handed relief help for the bullpen to cover that area. They could rely on Gorzelanny to provide it … but have to expect the Nats will go out and get another bullpen lefty. My guess is they also package Attie Severino as a guy who just isn't going to go anywhere in the organization. But, yes, they will probably try to trade Lannan, but most teams will likely be more interested in the more effective Gorzelanny. For the CF they are going to have to part with Detwiler, perhaps Desmond or Lombardozzi and Eury Perez. Perhaps Tyler Moore.

Because Parra is better than those guys by a lot, was an excellent LF last year and can probably handle center and will be reasonably priced for a while even if they upgrade the OF next year? Lannan wouldn't be offered arbitration. Arizona also has be worried about Drew's recovery time and their fifth starter, while they are in a good position to win their division again.

Barring injuries, either Morse or LaRoche will be traded by the deadline in July. That's how they make room for Harper and keep a stud CF…. which is what they should package Lannan and Desmond for.Not that anyone is selling, of course.

Rest Morse! It's MRI time.Do Not Dump Lannan. At least send him to Cuse. He'll end up starting at some point this season. He's a lefty who never gets hurt! Everyone's walking on eggshells saying Wang's back. Det might be great but like everyone worries, is he strong enough to go the distance in each game and for the season? Hope so…Keep Flores, he'll only get stronger.Anon 9:07: The Sox would never trade Ellsbury for Lannan, Desi, andCorey BrownI like it that Rizzo has patience–saves us from all those Snyder moves that keep biting skins fans in the a–. The Gio trade wasn't over-valuing, it was just tough and smart–he gave up to get. Look at Gio, how can you complain?Hoping Corey Brown has found himself and will come up in July so we can pay and not trade for Upton next December.Is Adam Jones an impossibility here?Who's our big left handed bat at 1B we should be zeroing in on in the next few years?

Barring injuries, either Morse or LaRoche will be traded by the deadline in July. That's how they make room for Harper and keep a stud CF…. which is what they should package Lannan and Desmond for.Not that anyone is selling, of course.–Ooops, used my wrong alias..Sec314

I got tickets too today. Just not the season package, those go out next week. But these were "Suprise" tickets. Apparantly I signed up during a promo time and had no idea about it. So nice gift from the Nats ticket office.

Heyman is at it again. Lannan is a CAA client just like Ryan Zimmerman so he craps on any potential deal. $5 million for a potential veteran #3 isn't a bad price.Glad Rizzo will hold firm on a potential trade if the offer isn't sufficient.

Gonat,If the Nats do not find a serious CF solution, the outfield by mid-season will be Morse, Werth and Harper. And LaRoche playing 1B.If, however, as I hope, they can find a CF who gets on base on a regular basis and doesn't remind us of Lastings Milledge or worse in the field, something's gotta give. The most likely move is Morse back to 1B and LaRoche off to someone else for prospects.Maybe Corey Brown is "the guy," but I think they have to trade to get the CF they need. A package of Lannan and Desmond for Parra (or Bourgeois, etc.) might do the trick.All of this, of course, is "barring injuries."Sec314/IPLawguy

I'll admit up front that I am a Lannan fan. I struggled with the comment Mark made in the earlier post that he is a dime a dozen. He's not a number one, two or three on a team with post-season aspirations … stipulated. But teams will be trotting out pitchers with lesser resumes or bigger question marks regularly as fours or fives. We all know his his ceiling. Maybe that's why he is not viewed highly as a tradeable commodity. But put me down in the send him to Syracuse category. Unless Rizzo can get a near big league prospect for him, I'd rather have him around. It's September and we're in contention. Who do you want eating up the Strasburg and CMW innings? Lannan, Maya or Stammen?

But put me down in the send him to Syracuse category. Unless Rizzo can get a near big league prospect for him, I'd rather have him around. It's September and we're in contention. Who do you want eating up the Strasburg and CMW innings? Lannan, Maya or Stammen?If Lannan is in Syracuse with Craig Stammen, Danny Rosenmbaum, or hopefully, Bradley Meyers he wouldn't even be the #1 starter there!!!! He'd be down with Maya and the recent free agent fillers they signed. And Lannan knows it. In Syracuse he wouldn't have the bullpen he has in DC to rescue him. Albeit, if they send Mattheus down he's going to be their stopper out of the bullpen and the likely closer. I agree Lannan belongs in Syracuse. But, doubtless, given his support in the clubhouse et al he will undoubtedly request a trade. And the Nats will oblige.

Maybe Corey Brown is "the guy," but I think they have to trade to get the CF they need. A package of Lannan and Desmond for Parra (or Bourgeois, etc.) might do the trick.Parra is exactly like trading for Brown. Well, not really because Brown truly is a potential five-tool former 1st round pick and Parra is not. Parra won a gold-glove in left-field and most scouts feel that is his best position. They do not think he handles CF well. His lack of power is why he was replaced in left. Offensively Parra did a quantum leap bRAA wise. A vast improvement and an outlier compared one the last three years. Instead of way below average he managed to jump just above average. He's a Nyjer Morgan type player in the outfield. Is he worth trading Lannan at least as a stop-gap? At worst a bench player? Perhaps. But that's saying you've given up on Bernadina in that role? Ankiel is a potential five tool with his arm his best attribute. Now the Nats have his right-handed clone in Brett Carroll. The Nats now see they may just have what they need in some combination of Corey Brown, Eury Perez, and Michael Taylor. No one is sure whether Brian Goodwin is a CF or another corner outfielder so until that is determined you really can't add him to the list yet … yet he adds a left-handed version of Eury Perez if he does. It might be better to play the hand they've already been dealt. Again, what they truly need (see Fielder, Prince) is an impact left-handed bat to go with Harper. Tyler Moore and Chris Marerro are both right-handed. Corey Brown has that potential but that is still to be seen. And most will tend to strongly doubt that. So, the position to fill with that player turns out to be first base until that talent can be developed from within (See Skole, Matt). Next year they may have a shot at Lance Berkman. If they do they should definitely take it IMO. Or they could monitor Joey Votto who will be a free agent in 2014. That is their biggest need. Not CF or lead-off as I believe they can manage to develop both from within. Its left-handed impact power other than Harper and perhaps Espinosa that they are missing. And the latter two are still TBD at this point … still under development.

I'm one of those who believe you hold on to Lannan as long as possible in ST in case of an injury to one of our other starters. If he needs to to AAA so be it as Lannan will never be confused with Cy Young but he is a serviceable ML starter. One thing that has impressed me about him is his durability and lack of serious injury in his career. Lannan has averaged 195 innings the past two full seasons (I did not count 2010 when he was sent to Harrisburg)pretty darn close to those "innings eaters" EJax and Gio. A lot to be said and liked for knowing he can take the ball every five days.

1a, I was trying to be cute by giving a one word answer to Anon@2:17. But if you want to get all technical about it, Morse is the odd man out of the outfield if we get an everyday primo CF. But he would almost certainly replace LaRoche at 1B, leaving LaRoche as the odd man out of the lineup. Of course, that could happen even sooner than we think if LaRoche's shoulder isn't healed as advertised.

I'm one of those who believe you hold on to Lannan as long as possible in ST in case of an injury to one of our other starters. If he needs to to AAA so be it as Lannan will never be confused with Cy Young but he is a serviceable ML starter.And what happens if Danny Rosenbaum pitches better? He has managed to improve his velocity, now he just needs to get the pin-point control back. If Strammen is down there pitching and pitching well? If Bradley Meyers is returned (doubtful at this point)? Do you still go with Lannan if there is an injury if you are Johnson? With Riggleman we already know the answer but with Johnson you never know.

Anon (and I am assuming it is the same Anon who responded to me and Knoxville), in the last four years, only 16 NL starters logged more innings than Lannan. I'm surprised you think so little of him to put Stammen and Maya (both of whom have pretty clearly failed in their big league opportunities), Rosenbaum and Meyers (who is actually not even on our team) potentially ahead of him. Should we throw in Purke?Lannan is not an ace. But if we need innings in September, I'd rather have the certainty of his performance than a handful of hope from some other names available.

And what happens if Danny Rosenbaum pitches better? ?Who? Come on. It's one thing to say that Lannan is probably not good enough to be in our opening day rotation, it's quite another to lump him with a guy who isn't even in major league camp or on the 40 man roster, a guy whose chance to earn a spot as a major league starter has come and gone, and a guy who the Nats thought so much of that they left him unprotected in the Rule 5 draft. You can't seriously believe that any one of those guys would get the call from DJ before John Lannan, can you?

Trading Desmond & Lannan for Bourgeios? I may not be the brightest bulb on the shelf but whoever made that suggestion sure hasnt been reading the stats I spent time compiling on Monday. The guy is a PART TIME PLAYER.I am signing off because the stupidity sometimes just gets the better of me especially with all of my traveling and lack of sleep.

Oh cool, the game will be on MLB network.Time for Stras to kick it up a notch. Maybe a few more curves and change ups.I noticed hitters are trying to hit him early in the count, usually on fastballs. He should mix up that first pitch a bit more, I think (and I'm no pitching coach Go Nats!

I keep seeing this "pRAA" statistic. I know it's supposed to isolate the pitching function – but until I see an explanation of how it is calculated, I don't give it much weight. The anonymous poster who keeps bringing it up frequently gets other statistics flat wrong (Lannan's ERA over the past four years) and asserts that Lannan gives up too many walks (true) and too many home runs (false; he's been below the league average in home runs allowed each of the past three seasons). Lannan does benefit from defense (he gets nearly 50% more GIDPs than the average pitcher) but that's because he gets grounders. His defenders have also made a lot of errors behind him, and he's played for some terrible defensive teams in DC.In sum, these gaps and inconsistencies don't help the anonymous poster's arguments very much. I'm not a Lannan fan (watching him pitch makes my eyes bleed) but going over his production I recognize that he consistently provides above replacement performance and is an OK #4 or even a decent #5 pitcher in the rotation.

Steve M. said… Trading Desmond & Lannan for Bourgeios? I may not be the brightest bulb on the shelf but whoever made that suggestion sure hasnt been reading the stats I spent time compiling on Monday. The guy is a PART TIME PLAYER.Lannan's something of a salary dump innings eater and Desmond's track record — no catch no hit SS — and pending arb eligibility make him close to immovable for any kind of very solid return. Let's get real here.

Tonight's Game prep:Air Conditioner on!General Tso's chicken (don't ask me to spell it)Glass of ShirazStrasburg Shersey!And a warning people, this weather may be playing tricks on you.. Unless your feet are in mid season form -say NO to the Flip Flops. (working on a blister, I think it will keep me at home on tomorrow so I can watch the Nats vs Yanks)

Okay, dinner made and eaten. No AC and wearing flip-flops, but just for around the house. Propose new drinking/bon-bon phrase: It's ST for umpires, too. Are sideline reporters annoying or what? Just show me the game, please. Okay, that should about cover it for now.

Unkyd said…Curious…. I wonder how many NIs will be at Duffy's….Unkyd, I think about half a dozen have responded in here. No telling who actually makes it, of course. Looking forward to seeing folks, myself.

Mattheus is getting shelled…..Not exactly. He's sharp for a few pitches, and then leaves one out over the plate and it gets lined. Concentration? Pitch selection? It's not like he's the only Nats pitcher they've been hitting tonight.

I would think, at this point in spring training, they are past the point of "working on things." Or are they just throwing a given pitch because they think it needs some work, nevermind the situation? Looks to me like they are pitching for real, but I dunno. NatsJack?

I hear you, Michele, and see a late, long lunch in my immediate future. And to those even slightly pained by this result (which I agree was at least slightly frustrating)–just remember (re Stras) that Drew stunk in ST last year, and that this lineup had very few of the Nats' starters (tho Flores was once again a virtually-as-good replacement for Ramos).

I keep seeing this "pRAA" statistic. I know it's supposed to isolate the pitching function – but until I see an explanation of how it is calculated, I don't give it much weight.Well perhaps you should educate yourself JohnC. I'm not going to do it for you since you seem to be an expert. The interesting thing is that the FO's perspective seems closer to my perspective and not to yours. And those really are top notch experts. Its likely they do monitor stats such as "pRAA". In the end ERA is also a stat … just not one that gives you a close approximation of the model. IN other words its a POOR stat for measuring pitchers. But since people have been using since the old days … pRAA and tRA were actually contrived in 1969 about when Davey Johnson got interested in the topic. I would rather have Milone or Rosenbaum in the #5 spot than Lannan. And as far as the others' claim that Lannan pitches so many innings? Well Livo pitched more, and would have pitched over 200 if Johnson hadn't shut him down. He pitched more in 2010. EJax and Gio Gonzalez both pitched more last season and went over 200 innings. Ejax the last three years. Gio for the last 2. Lannan did not in any of the last three. Yet he was the favored son, the #3 starter for so many of the pundits and posters here.If this isn't true then explain why they would pursue Buehrle who is older than Lannan for the #3 spot. His fast ball velocity is even lower! We can say the trade for Gio matches up well with the first 2 starters (WHO HAVEN'T EVEN come close to 200 innings? Why are they in the rotation then?) but EJax over the great John Lannan? He isn't even a coveted left-hander? Why? You're a silly, silly fan JohnC that's all I can say.

Anon, I went back and tried to deduce which posts are yours. I think you argued, much as some of us have argued, that you send Lannan to Syracuse and don't give him up for a bag of baseballs.It seems where we disagree is his overall value and longer term value to the franchise. I took exception to Mark's 'dime a dozen' characterization because I don't think there are that many pitchers in the bigs that have as high a probability of producing 30 starts, 180 innings, a below 4.00 ERA as Lannan and fewer still who will be #5 starters. There were only 50 qualifiers in the NL of the 80 starting slots, and Lannan's ERA was 30th of the 50th qualifying starters if I used Baseball Reference correctly.Further, in September, when there's an absolute certainty Strasburg will be shut down and a high probability of CMW running out of gas, when I look at our franchise, I'd have Lannan at the top of my list to give those meaningful September innings. Detwiler is still unknown. There's no way I'd put Gorzo, Stammen, Maya, and Meyers (not even on our team but likely coming back if you read Yankee blogs) ahead of Lannan. Purke a la David Price for the Rays a couple of years ago? That's pretty hopeful. Rosenbaum? I am impressed with your willingness to bet September on a pitcher with 39 innings above A ball that's not in the big league camp. We're going to need more pitching in September if we are going to contend. I don't want to see Lannan go without getting something serious in return. Give yourself a name friend so I can know who to apologize to when Rosenbaum is making meaningful starts the last week of September.

We're going to need more pitching in September if we are going to contend. I don't want to see Lannan go without getting something serious in return.That I agree is certainly true Constant Reader, and I contend that they are still short left-handed reliever-wise. I'm not sure Atahualpo Severino, who is on the 40-man is a replacement for either Burnett or Gorzelanny. Are you?As far as CM Wang running out of gas. I'm sure they almost expect that and that is why they have so many contingencies … in addition to the Strasburg shutdown. AND then, yes you will see Ross Detwiler. They need to find out about this guy NOW! Just because, as you mentioned, Purke, and yes Rosenbaum will likely be close. If not for TJ surgery Solis could be put on that list. IMO as an avid Syracuse fan Stammen is definitely a very different and more impressive pitcher than he was 2 years ago when he was in the rotation. The Yankees may stash Brad Meyers on the DL but in the end I suspect he gets returned and he is also an option. Love Lannan or believe him to be an underachiever as I do, you have to admit that he is not a part of the future that Rizzo is building. That's for certain. He is just a stop-gap now. Now, Detwiler, Stammen? They just might be. Purke almost definitely. Rosenbaum (who has won minor league pitcher of the year) is someone to watch as he will likely be in AAA before too long if not from the get-go. Now, getting back to Lannan. Would Lannan accept a demotion to Syracuse to work as veteran depth in case of injury? My feeling is that he would not consider that and would ask for a trade. I believe that the Nats FO has already approached him with this possibility and that is why they are out trying to accommodate him. They don't want to appear desperate … yet because it is still early … and they would like to get some value for him. It will require some serious injuries to decimate a contender's starting rotation for that to happen. Because Lannan makes 5 million, and LIvo barely 1 million. Yet the three years he was here Livo was the better pitcher by far. Lannan is not worth what the Nats are paying him in the minds of many a GM. Only a contender who is desperate seems likely to go for him, the other possibility would be the Indians and Acta. Another outside possibility might be Cincinnati because of Riggleman. Constant Reader 2

Mulling this over about Lannan – I just keep going back to durable, left-handed pitching.Do you really just throw that away? Especially when Wang is still iffy and Detweiler has a small sample size. This is why Rizzo and his mates earn those big bucks. Tough decisions. And also decisions that would have been unthinkable just a couple of years ago.

If it costs you $5M to have that durable lefty who does not strike guys out, who gives up a lot of walks and who has a history of trouble getting out of the 5th and you have the other 7 guys as SP, yeah, you throw him away, if you can.